I was reading a story about Iraqi insurgents, and how they often wear ski masks to avoid identification. This made me wonder, who was the genius entrepreneur who decided to sell ski masks in the desert? Man, talk about your “outside the box” thinking. Be honest, how many of you, at the start of the Iraq war, thought “They’re going to need a lot of ski gear”?
Any time there’s some huge disaster, my first thought is “How could I make a fortune off of this?” It’s more of a thought-hobby than a financial strategy. I just like thinking about it.
[At this point, about 30% of my readers are considering leaving a comment about buying land 100 miles inland and waiting for global warming to turn it into beachfront property. I’m saying it first so you don’t have to.]
I’d love to see a web site that tells you what companies to invest in depending on what events you believe will happen in the future. The web site would provide an ever-growing list of potential future happenings matched with companies that would prosper in those events. I’d enjoy watching the news a lot more if I had money riding on every sort of outcome.
For example, I’d like to know which companies will prosper when Mitt Romney becomes president. We usually elect the tall guy with the best hair regardless of his experience or policies. No one ever went broke underestimating the thoughtfulness of the American public. I’d like to put some money on that.
I also think the Iraqi civil war will be resolved relatively quickly once America pulls its forces back to protected bases. I make this prediction because the common wisdom is exactly the opposite. When was the last time the majority of Americans predicted world events correctly?
If you ask me whether the stock price of some particular company will increase faster than the S&P 500, my answer is always “Uh. . . beats the shit out of me.” But if you ask me whether my fellow Americans will make uninformed and irrational decisions, I’m willing to put some money behind that.